37 weeks.

How far along?: 37 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: Enough.
Sleep: Baby-wise? Great. Toddler-wise? Not-so-much. Joe has been making getting decent sleep nearly impossible. I have a call into the pediatrician for advice because I'm terrified that this baby is going to show up in 4 weeks and I'm gonna be up all night with Joe instead of the baby!
Movement: Still constant and getting pretty painful at times. I do a lot of wincing these days.
Labor Signs: An incredible amount of pressure, which would typically indicate that the baby is dropping, but not in my case. My babies are just so big that they cause a lot of pressure even before they drop.
Food cravings: Lots of cereal and donuts this week.
Gender: I still think boy.
New w/pregnancy #3: With only 3-4 weeks to go, we still don't really have things ready. The husband and I told ourselves we would wait for April, so I guess maybe we'll start doing it this week...
What I miss: I already miss peanut butter and I still get to have it for 3-4 more weeks.
What I am looking forward to: April 20th.
Best moment this week: The fabulous ladies in my family surprised me with a little baby "sprinkle" this weekend! Baby Rocket & I were spoiled with new little outfits and baby essentials. It was such a sweet surprise, and it was even sweeter to have Brooke there with me. She got to share in some of the baby excitement & was so, so excited about it!
Milestones: 37 weeks used to be considered full-term. Within recent months, they've actually pushed this back to 39 weeks (I think too many people were doing elective inductions between 37-39 weeks, when babies could really use those extra few weeks.) But I like to be old-school, so I'm going to say we've made it to full-term!

Life via Instagram.

The first quarter of 2014 is almost behind us. Here's a tiny peek into some of the day-to-day stuff that has gotten us through the last few months (via Instagram.)

 

Birthday donuts for the big 4 year old. The start of quite an exciting day for this chickadee.

 We just beat her twice in Go Fish & no fits were thrown. I'm gonna really like 4, you guys.

 She's feeding him to help him feel better b/c I made him put a Band Aid on a cut. Band Aids = poison, apparently.

 Longing for the calm of Sunday morning on this frazzled Monday morning. #lovehim

 "Mommy, I big & strong. I help you shovel." #besthelperever

 Fun at the hardware store. #fridaynight #glamorous

 Chocolate chip cupcakes just for being pregnant. Sisters-in-law are the greatest. #3rdtrimester

Dear God, please don't ever let him stop calling them "cupcapes".

 Heart-shaped pancakes, pink milk, red fruit. Doesn't take much to thrill the 4 & under crowd.

 Not quite what I was expecting to find when I went to cover him up...

 It pays to be cute at the deli counter :)

 A far-too-rare-these-days moment of sibling love.

 "Mommy, rocks have tiny materials called minerals." Her brain fascinates me. #4goingon14

When your toddler is sick, you sit down & hold his hand when he asks. You just do. 

 My personal rule to always stop what I'm doing if they ask me to read sometimes means Halloween books in March.

The final stretch.

Baby Reeder at 36w0d

How far along?: 36 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: A lot.
Sleep: My 2nd cold of the month showed up on Wednesday, this time in the form of serious nasal congestion. I'm really struggling to breathe when I sleep, so it hasn't been great.
Movement: Whoever said movement significantly slows down once the baby gets this big must have been a man. This kid hasn't stopped (and neither did my first 2). My pelvic bone is getting crushed. Oh, and the frequency of hiccups seems to have risen lately, which the baby doesn't seem to be enjoying.
Labor Signs: Lots of contractions every day, nothing note-worthy.
Food cravings: Cereal.
Gender: Team Blue.
New w/pregnancy #3: Still no major back pain. I just...I can't...I really don't understand. It was bothersome with Brooke and downright crippling with Joe. Maybe being in shape when you get pregnant really does make a difference? (Imagine that...)
What I miss: Cuddling with the kids with ease. I take it for granted. It's hard to hold & comfort a feverish 2.5-year-old with a belly this big.
What I am looking forward to: May, our first full month as a family of 5. (That's right. I'm guaranteeing this child will be out by the end of April. Whether he likes it or not.)
Best moment this week: The week as a whole went by very quickly. At this stage in the game, that is a fantastic thing! Gets me one week closer to holding my sweet baby!
Milestones: Weekly doctor's appointments. Already? Here we go, folks.

One more month.

Baby Rocket,

First off, let me assure you that we won't really be naming you that. In fact, you'll be happy to hear that we aren't taking any of your siblings' name suggestions seriously. (If it were up to your brother, you'd be named Go-Go Reeder.)

Oh, little baby, just one more month until you are due. I can't even believe we've made it this far. Just 31 more days (plus how ever many days after my due date that we schedule my induction.) We are so ready for you.

Ok, so maybe not 100% ready. Car seats haven't been installed/shuffled in the van. Onesies haven't been unpacked & put in your drawers. Pacifiers haven't been sterilized. The bassinet hasn't been carried up from the basement (although, let's be honest, you'll be too big for it from Day One like your siblings were.) My hospital bag isn't packed. I haven't washed the Coming Home outfits your sister helped me pick out for you. Daddy & I haven't finalized our middle name choices for you.

But our hearts? They're 110% ready for you. Your Daddy and I are so anxious to finally see your sweet face and kiss those big cheeks. We can't wait to find out which way our little tie-breaker will swing the boy-girl dynamic of our family. Your big brother and big sister are dying to meet you. They talk about you constantly, asking questions and counting down the weeks with me. Your sister adores feeling and watching you move around in my belly. And your brother has big plans to help us take care of you; "Can I help give the baby a pappy? Can I share my toys with the baby? I can show the baby my books." They have been incredibly patient waiting for you, and, as your impending arrival nears, their excitement is just through the roof.

So is mine.

I know these last few weeks are going to be tough, on both you and me. You're already out of room & getting bigger every minute. I'm gonna do my best to make things as comfortable as possible for you; I know I need to slow down and stop pushing my limits. Thankfully, you have the world's greatest Dad and he's been stepping up in a big way with your siblings so I can rest. (He's kind of awesome. I can't wait for you to meet him.)

Just you and me for one more month, little one. Then I get to introduce you to the world.

See you soon!
Love,
Mom

35/35.

How far along?: 35 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: Oh, like it matters.
Sleep: Still going strong.
Movement: All day long. And none of them are cute and gentle. It's all huge movements and giant kicks. My ribs are starting to take a beating.
Labor Signs: Lots of contractions this week. And the pelvic pressure has really kicked in as well. After 90 minutes of walking around the outlets with the husband yesterday, I was experiencing very sharp pains that were stopping me in my tracks. I'm pretty sure that was my wake-up call - I can't keep moving like I have been... 
Food cravings: Cereal. It has moved into serious craving status. 2-3 bowls a day. There are about 5 or 6 kinds that I rotate between, but Special K Cinnamon Pecan seems to be the big winner most days.
Gender: I'm torn now. This pregnancy is so similar to Brooke's, but at the same time, I can't help but think it's a boy.
New w/pregnancy #3: I've hit the D-O-N-E point in this pregnancy, which is just a tad bit sooner than #2 and much sooner than #1. I had to browse previous blog posts to figure this out & was quite surprised actually. I really didn't like Joe's pregnancy; it was really painful and uncomfortable and I found myself not enjoying being pregnant at all (I had morning sickness forever with him & then the back pain started much earlier, too.) I haven't felt that way this time around; I've actually been enjoying it overall (I strongly believe that all of this sleep I'm getting is the main reason). But I am reeeeeally uncomfortable & it's really difficult to take care of 2 young kids being this pregnant. So I'm done. These 5 weeks can't go fast enough (on that note, feel free to come up with ways to distract me so time goes by faster!)
What I miss: Wine.
What I am looking forward to: Working out. I know, hilarious. But I was in a good groove with running just before getting pregnant. I mean, I ran a 10K about 37 weeks ago; now, at 35 weeks pregnant, I can barely stand up. I'm so ready to get back into shape.
Best moment this week: Joe was laying on my belly at one point this week & got kicked by the baby. He thought it was so funny - "the baby kicked me in da face!" After that, he tried to get the baby to kick him in the face multiple times throughout the week. I certainly didn't mind the belly snuggles :) 
Milestones: 35 weeks down & only 35 days to go!!

Big Kids' room.

Pretty much from the moment I found out I was pregnant with #3, my mind started playing out a million different scenarios in regards to how we'd fit this new little one into our lives - more specifically, our house. We have a 4 bedroom house, so the quick answer was to give each child his/her own room. But that left us without an office, something I use constantly for bow-making/present-wrapping/junk-piling. So after a little convincing, the husband and I finally agreed that our big kids would share a room for a while. (He didn't share a room growing up; I've had to share a room with someone all but 1-2 years of my 29 years of life, so I knew it wouldn't kill them.) They're so young now, & everyone is on the same schedule; this is the perfect time to do it.

We wanted to give Joe plenty of time to get used to his Big Boy bed and Big Kid room before Baby Reeder gets here, so immediately after Christmas we got started. After a week or 2 of clearing out the former office (which was a huge job - thanks for the help, Mom!), it was ready to be transformed.

One of the husband's biggest hesitations with the room-sharing thing was how to create a shared space for a boy & a girl. Brooke already had bedding, so we ended up getting Joe a quilt from the same store so they'd at least somewhat go together. We picked a neutral wall color (the gray from Joe's quilt, which we told Brooke was "silver", one of her favorite colors) and just decorated each side of the room to match their bedding/personality. I'm really happy with how it turned out and the kids were/are ecstatic!

Joe was ready to sleep in his "car bed" on Day One. We were planning to just do naps in there for a while until he got used to it, but he was insistent on sleeping in there with his big sister right away. It's been over a month now and things are going as well as can be expected. We're struggling with the whole staying in bed thing; he loves to come downstairs with all sorts of excuses for what he needs. We currently have a sticker chart that seems to be helping; last night was the very first night he didn't get out of bed once! Brooke is handling it really well. She's usually so exhausted that she falls right to sleep, even with him babbling in his bed and getting up and down a million times. And they're doing a much better job of sneaking out of bed quietly in the morning and letting their sibling sleep. Overall, I'm really happy we made this transition when we did & that the room-sharing is going really well. On a related note, the nursery is clean & newborn-ready :)

 

34 & recovering.

Oh, friends. I'm not even sure I can adequately put into words how tough this week has been for me - physically, mentally, & emotionally. (This is the part where I'm going to whine about my crappy week. If you're not interested, move along.)

Last week's 33-week update was missed because we were in the midst of what turned out to be an 8-day sickness that swept through our house. It started last Friday with Joe waking up with a fever & terrible cold symptoms. By Saturday, my cold symptoms started; my fever kicked in on Sunday. I spent most of Sunday and Monday in bed (which my heavily-pregnant body did not appreciate - I was so sore...) By Monday night, it struck both Brooke & the husband. Joe's fever lasted until Wednesday, Brooke's went from Monday to Friday, and we all dealt with coughs/runny noses/congestion the entire week. We went through at least 4 boxes of tissues this week alone, & I went to 5 doctor's appts in total (2 for Joe, 1 for Brooke, 2 for me). Needless to say, being sick on top of being almost 8 months pregnant and trying to take care of sick, understandably whiny kids took one hell of a toll on me. We're all still trying to recover today, most especially me.

The last of the 5 doctor's appts I went to this week was a routine OB appt. While I'm still not 100%, the baby is perfect. Though it didn't feel like I was nourishing him enough at the time, this little one took exactly what he needed from me to continue to thrive. Baby is head-down (definitely no room to move anymore!) and measuring perfectly. It was a huge relief to be seen & get that reassurance after such a treacherous week.

 

Baby Reeder at 34w0d

How far along?: 34 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: +0.5 over 2 weeks, +31.5 lbs overall.
Sleep: In general, it has been surprisingly good. But this week was tough. This virus/cold made it pretty miserable for me to sleep most nights, not to mention the nightly wake-ups of kids with spiked fevers. I was able to sneak in a few naps here & there, which helped a lot.
Movement: Despite all of the craziness this week, the one reassurance I had was an incredible amount of movement from Rocket. I was really worried about how my illness & exhaustion was affecting this babe, so it was good to feel him spazzing out in my belly throughout each day.
Labor Signs: Thankfully, no. I was getting worried this week that this might pick up.
Food cravings: After a week of a suppressed appetite (it's really not fun to eat when you can't taste your food), my body is ready to make up for lost time. Send all of the food this way, please. Chinese, donuts, a Chipotle burrito bowl...I want all of it.
Gender: Team Blue. But, just in case, we have both a girl name & a boy name ready to go! (Finally finalized these!)
New w/pregnancy #3: I still can't believe I'm getting decent sleep (not counting the special circumstances this week). It's mind-boggling, really.
What I miss: Being able to breathe. I've been terribly congested all week, making the breathing situation even more impossible. I simply cannot get enough air.
What I am looking forward to: Easter, though I'm still not sure what the heck I'm going to wear to church w/an about-to-explode belly on my due date.
Best moment this week: Hearing Rocket's strong heartbeat on Friday. I needed that reassurance so desperately!
Weekly Wisdom: I am way too tired to be wise.
Milestones: We've made it to March, which means the answer to the "When are you due?" question is now "Next month." Woah.